How To Relate: Chapter 12
Title: How To Relate
Author: justhowthisgoes
Fandom: NCIS
Category: Hurt/Comfort/Family
Pairing: None
Rating: T
Spoilers: Up to Season 7
Summary: Tony has been getting threatening letters and the team is worried, but Tony isn't taking them seriously. Then come the attempts on his life. Could the new girl at NCIS be involved? And what secrets from Tony's past will be revealed in the search?
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter 12
Down For The Count
The lights from the television flickered softly on the group as Sean Connery made his way across screen. Tony and Abby shared a giant beanbag on the floor, having contrived for the other two to end up together on the couch. McGee and Ali had seemed a little awkward in that position at first, but as the night moved on they grew more comfortable with each other.
Glancing to his right, Tony saw Tim scoot a little closer to Ali and surreptitiously snake an arm around her shoulder. Well, that was sure comfortable, all right.
Tony guessed that all those tips (and digs) he'd given the Probie about girls over the years had paid off. Of course, it was a little disconcerting to see those moves being used on his sister, his little sister -which was still a mind-blowing concept in and of itself-but she didn't seem to mind. And after all, as Abby said, they really did look cute together.
Tony turned his attention back to the screen to see Bond in the arms of yet another gorgeous woman with deadly skill and a foreign accent. Great. It seemed everything he saw or heard today was determined to remind him of his fight with Ziva.
Not really a fight, though. He mused. If we had been fighting there would have been pain, lots and lots of pain. And all of it mine.
Argument then?
He shook his head. That didn't exactly fit either.
Well, it didn't really matter anyway. By the end of the day, everyone in the office had somehow known the two were quarreling with each other, even if they didn't know exactly why. As a result, when Ziva didn't show up for movie night, McGee and Abby had seemed to know better than to ask where she was, and Ali didn't know well enough to realize that she was missing.
The truth was Tony hadn't invited her.
He knew he had hurt her feelings earlier, something that was not easy to do, but he had apologized. And she had immediately rebuffed his apology. He nearly invited her anyway, as a peace offering, but seeing that she was currently giving him the cold shoulder he doubted she would have even let him get the words out.
It was probably for the best anyway, considering he knew she was still was suspicious of Ali and most likely would have gone out of the way to make her feel uncomfortable.
And, despite his off-hand comment the previous day, he didn't actually want to see a chick-fight in his living room in the near future, at least not when one of the 'chicks' was his sister.
He'd just have to wait and let Ziva cool off. He would try to apologize again tomorrow. The last thing he wanted was the ex-Mossad assassin angry at him, particularly when within reach of office supplies.
To his left on the beanbag, Abby was obviously fighting to stay awake. Tony knew she had to be tired after staying up for two days straight. Even with the amount of caffeine the Goth consumed daily, her eyes would only stay open for so long.
He smiled fondly as Abby snuggled into his side, nearly drifting off. She was such a good friend to him. He had almost been expecting jealousy on Abby's part after this recent revelation since she had occupied the little sister spot in his life for so long, but she and Ali had really hit it off, for which he was grateful.
As the movie ended and the credits played, Abby let out a light snore and her head drooped against Tony's shoulder.
Tony chuckled. "Looks like the Energizer Bunny finally crashed."
"Well, I guess the Caf-Pow had to wear off sometime," McGee pointed out. He glanced down at his watch and quickly stood up. "Wow. It is getting kind of late. I'll take her home."
"Abbs. Hey Abby," Tony called, tugging a pigtail. "Wakey, wakey."
Abby just shifted and mumbled in her sleep.
Tony began poking her in the shoulder repeatedly, "Come on Sleeping Beauty. Do you need a kiss from the handsome prince?" He teased.
"Hmm? I'm up," Abby opened her eyes groggily, smiling as she registered Tony's last words. "Handsome prince? And who would that be, exactly?"
Tony pretended to be highly insulted. "You don't think I'm handsome?"
"Handsome, sure. Princely…? It's a reach," She gave a wide yawn and stretched.
Tony rose and extended a hand to help her up. "Aw, shucks Abby. That hurts."
"Ha." Abby grabbed his hand and stood, giving him a little punch in the arm. "As if you need another boost to your ego."
Tony grinned, conceding this.
"Well, thanks for inviting us over Tony," McGee headed for the door, then turned back. "I'll, uh, I'll call you, Ali." The way he phrased it made it sound like a question.
Ali smiled happily, "Sure."
McGee smiled back in relief and stepped outside.
"Well, bye guys! This was fun. We should do it again sometime. But with Caf-Pow next time," Abby covered another yawn with her hand and paused at the door. "Oh, by the way Ali, you know you don't really have gray hair, right? Just in case you were wondering." She gave a wave and followed McGee.
Tony closed the door after them and turned to Ali, baffled. "What did she mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing," Ali replied innocently.
Tony looked at her quizzically. "Ok..."
"Just a little… thing that happened yesterday."
*
Ali visibly jumped as Agent David stood next to her in the elevator, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Why was she so distracted today?
"Oh… hello," she murmured awkwardly.
"Hello," Ziva answered curtly, moving a bit too close for comfort. "Going home?"
"Um… yes. Soon," Ali looked away from Ziva uneasily. "I just have to finish up a few things first and put my mail cart back where it belongs. You?"
"Perhaps. We do not always go home at night when we are in the middle of an investigation."
"Ah." Ali nodded and looked away again. She could feel Ziva's eyes boring into her. It was a bit intimidating, but she tried not to show that it bothered her. Considering the death glare she had received that morning, she got the feeling that for some reason the agent didn't like her much.
After several long moments, Ali thought of something to break the ice. Turning back to Ziva, she asked, "So… are you and Tony-"
"-boyfriend and girlfriend?" Ziva cut her off sharply. "No, we are not. We are strictly coworkers."
"Oh. I just wondered." Ali bit her lip and stared at the floor. Just how many stories did this building have anyway?
Suddenly, Ali felt a sharp pain on the top of her head which vanished as quickly as it had come.
"Ow!" she exclaimed.
She quickly realized what had caused it but couldn't believe it: Ziva had pulled out a few of her hairs.
Eyes watering slightly, she turned to Ziva, astonished.
"Hey! What the heck was that for?"
"You had a couple grays," Ziva replied simply.
"A couple… What? I…" Ali stammered, insulted. "You don't just pull someone's hair out like that! It's very rude!"
"It won't happen again," Ziva had a slight smirk on her face as she not-quite-apologized.
The elevator stopped just then on the lobby floor and the doors opened. Ali, still in shock, walked out quickly, completely overlooking her mail cart. A second later, she came back for it, avoiding Ziva's unbroken gaze as her face flamed bright red.
She made a beeline for the women's restroom, muttering to herself, "A gray hair? It couldn't be…"
*
Ali unconsciously reached back and rubbed the crown of her head. She'd spent over 20 minutes in front of the mirror painstakingly combing through her blonde waves to make absolutely certain there were no grays. "You know, Agent David kind of scares me."
Tony laughed, remembering a little regretfully he was still at odds with said agent. "Well, you're in good company. A lot of people feel that way. In fact, I'm a little scared of her, myself, at the moment."
Ali wrinkled her brow in confusion. "You are? I thought you guys were partners."
"We are. I just… said something kind of stupid and now she's pissed at me. Believe me, she is not someone you want to piss off."
"Yeah, that's the impression I get." Ali recalled the frowns and glares that had been directed her way every time she walked past the last couple of days, besides what she was now calling 'The Elevator Incident.' She just wasn't sure what she'd done to make the other woman so angry.
Tony picked up the empty pizza box and began gathering the discarded napkins, plates, and cups. "I'm just going to go wash these dishes up really quick."
"Well, I can help you with that," Ali offered, reaching to relieve him of some of the pile he was now holding.
Tony turned away, pulling the stack out of reach. "Oh no you don't. You're a guest." He headed down the hall toward the kitchen, calling out over his shoulder. "Seriously, make yourself at home. It'll just take a few minutes."
Ali sat on the couch for a minute, then got up and began to look around the room.
The first thing that was immediately obvious to her was Tony's fondness for cinema, judging by his impressive theater system and immense DVD collection.
She ran her finger along the titles on a shelf. He had quite the assortment of movies, not to mention the boxed sets of several TV series.
"So, I guess you're a big Magnum PI fan, huh?" She called loudly to be heard over the running water.
She heard Tony laughing from the other room as he shut off the water and then walked back to the living room to join her.
"Yeah," he acknowledged, "among other things. Obviously."
Ali smiled and continued browsing along the shelves on the wall. She stopped at an MVP plaque with a picture of a beaming college-aged Tony in a football uniform, kneeling and holding his helmet.
"Wow. You look so young there."
"Well, I was… I think 21 when that picture was taken. Hey wait-" he glared, "I know you're not saying that I look old now!"
Ali just rolled her eyes and smirked. She was getting used to Tony's humor. "You must've been a really good player."
"Yeah, I almost went pro, but then I broke my leg senior year."
"Oh, that sucks," she grimaced sympathetically.
"Yeah, well…" he shrugged, then suddenly grinned. "You wanna see my favorite college award?" He pulled out a paper from behind the plaque and handed it to her.
Ali looked down, slightly puzzled to see a certificate declaring Anthony DiNozzo winner of Ohio State 1992 Mr. Legs Competition.
"I'm guessing this was before you broke your leg?" she asked, grinning wryly even as she raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Tony looked over, startled to see what she was holding. "Whoops!" He actually blushed a little as he switched it with the paper underneath. "I meant this one."
"Beer Pong Champ of Alpha Chi Delta?" she read.
"My fraternity. I was the undisputed champion for that title. Still hold the record, by the way."
"Ah." Ali laughed. "So, football, basketball, fraternity… I'm guessing you were kind of like, big man on campus?"
"Well, probably more like 'party man on campus.'" Tony shook his head apologetically. "But man, did I have a blast in college. And I still keep in touch with my frat brothers. We even get together every once in a while; in fact, we're planning on going on a cruise this coming spring."
Ali smiled, and then noticed something on the side table as she turned away from the wall. "Tony, I think Abby left her keys here."
He glanced over, seeing the familiar skull and crossbones key-chain. "You're right. And she'll be needing those to get into her apartment. I'll just shoot her a quick text." He typed a short message on his phone and then laughed as he immediately got a response. "She noticed them missing a minute ago and they're headed back right now."
Ali had picked up the photo of the team that rested on the table behind the keys. "Nice picture."
"Yeah." Tony remembered when it was taken; soon after they got back from Somalia, when the team was all together again.
"It's cute. You guys look almost like a family," Ali had a wistful look in her eyes.
Tony smiled, "Yeah. Oh! That reminds me. I know I've got that photo of your mom someplace. Wait right here, I'll go find it."
He went down the hall into his bedroom and pulled a shoebox off a shelf in his closet. As he blew a little dust off the lid, he heard a knock at the front door. Huh. That was quick.
"Hey Ali," he called. "Can you get that?"
"Sure, no problem," she answered.
As he took off the top and shuffled through the pictures and papers inside, he heard a muffled crash from the living room.
"Ali?"
There was no answer.
Immediately on guard, Tony pulled one of his backup weapons out of the drawer next to his bed and made his way cautiously into the hallway. As he passed the kitchen, he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He began to turn when suddenly something hard connected with the back of his head.
Tony's world exploded into stars and then darkness as his knees buckled and he collapsed into a heap on the floor.
...
Chapter 13
Author: justhowthisgoes
Fandom: NCIS
Category: Hurt/Comfort/Family
Pairing: None
Rating: T
Spoilers: Up to Season 7
Summary: Tony has been getting threatening letters and the team is worried, but Tony isn't taking them seriously. Then come the attempts on his life. Could the new girl at NCIS be involved? And what secrets from Tony's past will be revealed in the search?
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter 12
Down For The Count
The lights from the television flickered softly on the group as Sean Connery made his way across screen. Tony and Abby shared a giant beanbag on the floor, having contrived for the other two to end up together on the couch. McGee and Ali had seemed a little awkward in that position at first, but as the night moved on they grew more comfortable with each other.
Glancing to his right, Tony saw Tim scoot a little closer to Ali and surreptitiously snake an arm around her shoulder. Well, that was sure comfortable, all right.
Tony guessed that all those tips (and digs) he'd given the Probie about girls over the years had paid off. Of course, it was a little disconcerting to see those moves being used on his sister, his little sister -which was still a mind-blowing concept in and of itself-but she didn't seem to mind. And after all, as Abby said, they really did look cute together.
Tony turned his attention back to the screen to see Bond in the arms of yet another gorgeous woman with deadly skill and a foreign accent. Great. It seemed everything he saw or heard today was determined to remind him of his fight with Ziva.
Not really a fight, though. He mused. If we had been fighting there would have been pain, lots and lots of pain. And all of it mine.
Argument then?
He shook his head. That didn't exactly fit either.
Well, it didn't really matter anyway. By the end of the day, everyone in the office had somehow known the two were quarreling with each other, even if they didn't know exactly why. As a result, when Ziva didn't show up for movie night, McGee and Abby had seemed to know better than to ask where she was, and Ali didn't know well enough to realize that she was missing.
The truth was Tony hadn't invited her.
He knew he had hurt her feelings earlier, something that was not easy to do, but he had apologized. And she had immediately rebuffed his apology. He nearly invited her anyway, as a peace offering, but seeing that she was currently giving him the cold shoulder he doubted she would have even let him get the words out.
It was probably for the best anyway, considering he knew she was still was suspicious of Ali and most likely would have gone out of the way to make her feel uncomfortable.
And, despite his off-hand comment the previous day, he didn't actually want to see a chick-fight in his living room in the near future, at least not when one of the 'chicks' was his sister.
He'd just have to wait and let Ziva cool off. He would try to apologize again tomorrow. The last thing he wanted was the ex-Mossad assassin angry at him, particularly when within reach of office supplies.
To his left on the beanbag, Abby was obviously fighting to stay awake. Tony knew she had to be tired after staying up for two days straight. Even with the amount of caffeine the Goth consumed daily, her eyes would only stay open for so long.
He smiled fondly as Abby snuggled into his side, nearly drifting off. She was such a good friend to him. He had almost been expecting jealousy on Abby's part after this recent revelation since she had occupied the little sister spot in his life for so long, but she and Ali had really hit it off, for which he was grateful.
As the movie ended and the credits played, Abby let out a light snore and her head drooped against Tony's shoulder.
Tony chuckled. "Looks like the Energizer Bunny finally crashed."
"Well, I guess the Caf-Pow had to wear off sometime," McGee pointed out. He glanced down at his watch and quickly stood up. "Wow. It is getting kind of late. I'll take her home."
"Abbs. Hey Abby," Tony called, tugging a pigtail. "Wakey, wakey."
Abby just shifted and mumbled in her sleep.
Tony began poking her in the shoulder repeatedly, "Come on Sleeping Beauty. Do you need a kiss from the handsome prince?" He teased.
"Hmm? I'm up," Abby opened her eyes groggily, smiling as she registered Tony's last words. "Handsome prince? And who would that be, exactly?"
Tony pretended to be highly insulted. "You don't think I'm handsome?"
"Handsome, sure. Princely…? It's a reach," She gave a wide yawn and stretched.
Tony rose and extended a hand to help her up. "Aw, shucks Abby. That hurts."
"Ha." Abby grabbed his hand and stood, giving him a little punch in the arm. "As if you need another boost to your ego."
Tony grinned, conceding this.
"Well, thanks for inviting us over Tony," McGee headed for the door, then turned back. "I'll, uh, I'll call you, Ali." The way he phrased it made it sound like a question.
Ali smiled happily, "Sure."
McGee smiled back in relief and stepped outside.
"Well, bye guys! This was fun. We should do it again sometime. But with Caf-Pow next time," Abby covered another yawn with her hand and paused at the door. "Oh, by the way Ali, you know you don't really have gray hair, right? Just in case you were wondering." She gave a wave and followed McGee.
Tony closed the door after them and turned to Ali, baffled. "What did she mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing," Ali replied innocently.
Tony looked at her quizzically. "Ok..."
"Just a little… thing that happened yesterday."
*
Ali visibly jumped as Agent David stood next to her in the elevator, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Why was she so distracted today?
"Oh… hello," she murmured awkwardly.
"Hello," Ziva answered curtly, moving a bit too close for comfort. "Going home?"
"Um… yes. Soon," Ali looked away from Ziva uneasily. "I just have to finish up a few things first and put my mail cart back where it belongs. You?"
"Perhaps. We do not always go home at night when we are in the middle of an investigation."
"Ah." Ali nodded and looked away again. She could feel Ziva's eyes boring into her. It was a bit intimidating, but she tried not to show that it bothered her. Considering the death glare she had received that morning, she got the feeling that for some reason the agent didn't like her much.
After several long moments, Ali thought of something to break the ice. Turning back to Ziva, she asked, "So… are you and Tony-"
"-boyfriend and girlfriend?" Ziva cut her off sharply. "No, we are not. We are strictly coworkers."
"Oh. I just wondered." Ali bit her lip and stared at the floor. Just how many stories did this building have anyway?
Suddenly, Ali felt a sharp pain on the top of her head which vanished as quickly as it had come.
"Ow!" she exclaimed.
She quickly realized what had caused it but couldn't believe it: Ziva had pulled out a few of her hairs.
Eyes watering slightly, she turned to Ziva, astonished.
"Hey! What the heck was that for?"
"You had a couple grays," Ziva replied simply.
"A couple… What? I…" Ali stammered, insulted. "You don't just pull someone's hair out like that! It's very rude!"
"It won't happen again," Ziva had a slight smirk on her face as she not-quite-apologized.
The elevator stopped just then on the lobby floor and the doors opened. Ali, still in shock, walked out quickly, completely overlooking her mail cart. A second later, she came back for it, avoiding Ziva's unbroken gaze as her face flamed bright red.
She made a beeline for the women's restroom, muttering to herself, "A gray hair? It couldn't be…"
*
Ali unconsciously reached back and rubbed the crown of her head. She'd spent over 20 minutes in front of the mirror painstakingly combing through her blonde waves to make absolutely certain there were no grays. "You know, Agent David kind of scares me."
Tony laughed, remembering a little regretfully he was still at odds with said agent. "Well, you're in good company. A lot of people feel that way. In fact, I'm a little scared of her, myself, at the moment."
Ali wrinkled her brow in confusion. "You are? I thought you guys were partners."
"We are. I just… said something kind of stupid and now she's pissed at me. Believe me, she is not someone you want to piss off."
"Yeah, that's the impression I get." Ali recalled the frowns and glares that had been directed her way every time she walked past the last couple of days, besides what she was now calling 'The Elevator Incident.' She just wasn't sure what she'd done to make the other woman so angry.
Tony picked up the empty pizza box and began gathering the discarded napkins, plates, and cups. "I'm just going to go wash these dishes up really quick."
"Well, I can help you with that," Ali offered, reaching to relieve him of some of the pile he was now holding.
Tony turned away, pulling the stack out of reach. "Oh no you don't. You're a guest." He headed down the hall toward the kitchen, calling out over his shoulder. "Seriously, make yourself at home. It'll just take a few minutes."
Ali sat on the couch for a minute, then got up and began to look around the room.
The first thing that was immediately obvious to her was Tony's fondness for cinema, judging by his impressive theater system and immense DVD collection.
She ran her finger along the titles on a shelf. He had quite the assortment of movies, not to mention the boxed sets of several TV series.
"So, I guess you're a big Magnum PI fan, huh?" She called loudly to be heard over the running water.
She heard Tony laughing from the other room as he shut off the water and then walked back to the living room to join her.
"Yeah," he acknowledged, "among other things. Obviously."
Ali smiled and continued browsing along the shelves on the wall. She stopped at an MVP plaque with a picture of a beaming college-aged Tony in a football uniform, kneeling and holding his helmet.
"Wow. You look so young there."
"Well, I was… I think 21 when that picture was taken. Hey wait-" he glared, "I know you're not saying that I look old now!"
Ali just rolled her eyes and smirked. She was getting used to Tony's humor. "You must've been a really good player."
"Yeah, I almost went pro, but then I broke my leg senior year."
"Oh, that sucks," she grimaced sympathetically.
"Yeah, well…" he shrugged, then suddenly grinned. "You wanna see my favorite college award?" He pulled out a paper from behind the plaque and handed it to her.
Ali looked down, slightly puzzled to see a certificate declaring Anthony DiNozzo winner of Ohio State 1992 Mr. Legs Competition.
"I'm guessing this was before you broke your leg?" she asked, grinning wryly even as she raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Tony looked over, startled to see what she was holding. "Whoops!" He actually blushed a little as he switched it with the paper underneath. "I meant this one."
"Beer Pong Champ of Alpha Chi Delta?" she read.
"My fraternity. I was the undisputed champion for that title. Still hold the record, by the way."
"Ah." Ali laughed. "So, football, basketball, fraternity… I'm guessing you were kind of like, big man on campus?"
"Well, probably more like 'party man on campus.'" Tony shook his head apologetically. "But man, did I have a blast in college. And I still keep in touch with my frat brothers. We even get together every once in a while; in fact, we're planning on going on a cruise this coming spring."
Ali smiled, and then noticed something on the side table as she turned away from the wall. "Tony, I think Abby left her keys here."
He glanced over, seeing the familiar skull and crossbones key-chain. "You're right. And she'll be needing those to get into her apartment. I'll just shoot her a quick text." He typed a short message on his phone and then laughed as he immediately got a response. "She noticed them missing a minute ago and they're headed back right now."
Ali had picked up the photo of the team that rested on the table behind the keys. "Nice picture."
"Yeah." Tony remembered when it was taken; soon after they got back from Somalia, when the team was all together again.
"It's cute. You guys look almost like a family," Ali had a wistful look in her eyes.
Tony smiled, "Yeah. Oh! That reminds me. I know I've got that photo of your mom someplace. Wait right here, I'll go find it."
He went down the hall into his bedroom and pulled a shoebox off a shelf in his closet. As he blew a little dust off the lid, he heard a knock at the front door. Huh. That was quick.
"Hey Ali," he called. "Can you get that?"
"Sure, no problem," she answered.
As he took off the top and shuffled through the pictures and papers inside, he heard a muffled crash from the living room.
"Ali?"
There was no answer.
Immediately on guard, Tony pulled one of his backup weapons out of the drawer next to his bed and made his way cautiously into the hallway. As he passed the kitchen, he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He began to turn when suddenly something hard connected with the back of his head.
Tony's world exploded into stars and then darkness as his knees buckled and he collapsed into a heap on the floor.
...
Chapter 13